Hopton (For Carsington) – Henmore Dale Light Railway.
Having introduced Hopton by describing the previous layouts and, to some extent, what was wrong with them and explained the hiatus and, in my opinion, beneficial pause we come to the new layout and how we arrived at the current cunning plan. I ought to have got Andy to write this bit as after around a year of ZOOM and Messenger chats he put together a document that summarised what we had discussed and laid out some options and I am now going pick and choose from that.
- A more compact layout which we can erect without needing a large hall.
- A couple of cars to go to a show rather than a rented van.
- Skill Building. (Note 1)
- Manageable Start. If that is a success, then we build something else.
- Presentation: To include backscene and lighting.
- Coherent loco and rolling stock policy when exhibiting the layout. (Note 2)
A couple of those bullet points have notes attached as whilst we know what we mean they need a bit of amplification for the wider audience.
(Note 1): One failure of the old layout was in it progressing as our skills developed. Rather than a clean break, or update what we’d done, we’d build a new bit to our current standards/finance and life with the poor bits. Whilst what I call the poor bits were exhibitable there was a lack of consistency across the full layout.
(Note 2): We decided that, when exhibiting, the locomotives and stock on the layout should show some sort of a credible policy. The likes of the Welshpool and Leek and Manifold managed all their lives with two loco’s each and they 
matched their stock well. As an exhibition layout we’re always going to have more that two loco’s but in the past there was almost a competition to build the most outrageous. Then, on the layout unlikely combinations would run. Things like, for example, the full stone train with a Porter on the front when the last time it appeared in the sequence the same train needed an, equally ridiculous, 0-10-0 to pull it.
This credibility note has the proviso we can run all the silly stuff at home.
In a parallel universe Andy and I had copies of Creating Cameo Layouts by Iain Rice and had been discussing our own projects using the cameo idea. My own 0n3 layout started out in my head as a room sized project but has, with practicality applied, become a series of connected cameos (Ok, I’m still on the first one and its not connected to anything yet). What appeals is the self-contained nature with the pelmet top with lighting built in completing the presentation.
If, like me, you’ve read a lot of Iain Rice’s articles over the years you’ll have noticed him banging on about the proscenium arch idea stolen from theatre stage sets and used to focus the eye on the stage. The full cameo layout idea, and the book, is really the ultimate development of that theory.
The Route
When the definitive history of the HDLR is written it will surely detail all the considerations, meetings and minutes in account of estimation of traffic along the route but for now here is just a précis of the route and traffic.
Atlow Mill – then
The modern map above shows as well as it can that the line heads east and then north east following the course of the Henmore Brook. In Ashbourne the railway had its own terminus but also squeezed through town to interchange at the North Staffordshire Railway Station. Leaving town past the railways own engineering base the line ran along the river to Hognaston station and thence to Atlow Mill having passed a timber yard and creamery on the way. From there the line climbed another three miles to Hopton and the quarries with some short branches to individual quarries.
Atlow Mill – Now
As you can see from the modern map the top end of the line is now under the Carsington Water reservoir that was built in the 1980’s and completed in 1992. It is now a popular leisure site for walking, cycling, fishing and water sports. If the HDLR Preservation Society ever get their act together a deviation towards the visitor centre would be a must.
Railway Traffic Assessment
Goods Traffic – Ashbourne to Hopton.
- General Goods.
- Farming Supplies e.g. fertiliser. Were there private stores for local farmer’s co-operative provided at HDLR stations?
- Coal to all locations.
- Empty churns.
Goods Traffic – Hopton to Ashbourne.
- Full churns.
- Flour from Sturston & Atlow Mills.
- Logs to the saw mill at Ashbourne.
- Stone from the quarries.
Passenger Traffic.
In addition to the daily passenger service. Market Day specials could be run bringing people into Ashbourne and Bank Holiday specials taking the residents of Ashbourne out into the Dale. Plus of course the Shrovetide Football specials.
Back to some modelling.
Having read up on the history (aka written it) the potential sites were discussed in the various zoom & messenger meetings and it was decided to model the end of the line at Hopton with a branch, joining at an inconvenient angle (aka operationally interesting) and some back and forth with options arrived at a plan.
There followed some full size planning with templates and mock ups in the new modelling centre on plain wallpaper and some old boards.
Options were explored and a few changes made to the plan.
Early on we decided that we didn’t like the flat baseboard layout and wanted some subtle changes in height.
The front edge of the layout will be cut away to give a lower level roadway and to facilitate gravity drops from rail to road. This road slopes up to and then crosses the railway to the left of the station.
The mainline to the rear and quarry line to the fore in the plan had the main line level and the quarry line falling but in planning this was changed to the quarry line climbs whilst the main line falls. Both grades are small but the two being adjacent will emphasise the difference and thus the quarry line helps hide the transition to the fiddle yard of the main line.
With a plan agreed it was time to crack on with some baseboards.
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